Tag: home decor

I’ve been redecorating my living room (and entire apartment tbh) and needed a new home bar set up. I’ve been using a bar cart for a few years, but I needed a better set up to store my liquor and glass collection. A bar cart wasn’t going to cut it anymore, so I went on a search for a cabinet. I’m no stranger to an IKEA hack, so I took a trip to IKEA and spotted the VALJE shelf and liked the size and set up of the shelves. It reminded me of some mid-century pieces I’ve seen in my vintage home decor magazines. It took about two minutes for me to figure out how I would transform it.

Paint. Quick and easy.

I didn’t take step by step photos because the process is really easy. All you have to do is spray paint the leg pieces gold and then put it all together by following the IKEA assembly instructions.

When it gets to the part where you insert the backboard, mark a line where the vertical shelves divide the board and then use paint to make the different colored squares. I got house paint samples in custom colors from Lowe’s and painted the cardboard side of the backboard with a few coats. Then insert the backboard and finish the remaining assembly instructions. If you already have this piece you can just carefully paint in the squares.

That’s it! Done!

I stocked it with liquor and filled the shelves with my favorite bar accessories and vintage glass collection.

I love the way it turned out! I used colors that would tie in with the colors used in the rest of the house. It’s one of the first things you seen when you enter my front door so I had to make sure it was good.

The only thing that really bothered me about my new kitchen was the way the refrigerator looked in the space.

Now don’t get me wrong it’s a nice brand new refrigerator, but the way the side of it created a big black rectangle in in the middle of everything bothered me.

I bought a peel and stick wallpaper a couple of years ago with the intention of covering my old refrigerator, but never got around to it. Luckily I found the paper when I was unpacking and since I’m still renting I decided to put it to use!

I like the shape of the refrigerator door and I don’t mind the stainless, so I decided to only apply the wall paper to the sides and top to cover all the black. I was also inspired by the two-toned refrigerators that were popular back in the day.

All I had to do was pull out the refrigerator and apply the peel and stick the paper, carefully matching the seams and making sure to smooth out any air bubbles. This type of paper is very easy to work with and made the job extremely simple.

To finish off the edges I used a thin washi tape in the same color and similar pattern. This gave it a more finished look and helped make sure all of my edges were properly secured.

What an improvement! The refrigerator no longer stands out like a sore thumb and adds a nice subtle color and more retro flair to the space. It also gives it a nice smooth texture which makes it way easier to clean than the bumpy texture that it had before. I love it!

Now I’m going to use a different peel and stick wallpaper to cover that back wall as well. Stay tuned!

Do you like the look of wallpaper but can’t commit to installing any? Same here. A lot of the projects I do in my apartment have to be temporary because I rent, so I’m always trying to find inexpensive and temporary solutions to my design problems.

When I redecorated my living room earlier this year I knew I wanted to do an accent wall behind my sofa, and I knew I wanted it to be a pattern. I’d heard of people using fabric as temporary wallpaper before and decided I wanted to give it a whirl. I fell in love with a fabric that I ended up scoring for $6, and the other materials are really inexpensive, so it was no big loss if it didn’t work out.

For this project you need fabric (I used a light weight cotton), liquid starch, push tacks, an exacto knife, and a paint roller. For everything I paid less than $20 total!

Side note: I did this project on the rainiest day of the year, so please excuse the lighting in some of the images!

First, I used push tacks to hang the fabric up on the wall. I tacked at the ceiling line and sides.

Then I used a paint roller to apply the liquid starch to the fabric.

I started at the top, smoothing out air bubbles and wrinkles as I worked my way down. Make sure you saturate the fabric thoroughly so it sticks to the wall very well. I repeated the process for each piece, matching up the edges on the sides. This fabric had a label on one of the selvage edges, so I cut that off before applying it to the wall.

Let it dry thoroughly for several hours. I let mine dry over night.

Next, I used an exacto-knife to cut around the edges of the wall and around any details like air vents and electrical sockets. For any left over air bubbles, I just sliced them and re-saturated, then pushed any air out.

That it! I was actually shocked at how much easier it was to do than I imagined. It took me a few hours but wasn’t as labor intensive as I anticipated. Here’s how it turned out!

I love it!

To remove it all you have to do is set a corner with warm water and peel it straight off the one in one piece. I actually removed a piece and put it back up on the wall because I didn’t like the placement. The best part is this fabric can be laundered and reused whenever I choose to remove it!

Ohhhh man, you guys. I’m reallllly excited about this project. Bear with me because there’s a lot to cover (no pun intended).

A while back I posted about how I was on the hunt for a new sofa and narrowed down a few of my favorite contenders. One of the contenders was the KARLSTAD from IKEA because I knew I could save a lot of money by attempting a hack, and thanks to a pretty hefty tax audit (kill me) that’s what I ended up having to do. As luck would have it I found a perfect KARLSTAD at IKEA for $250 in the clearance section. A lot of you already know that I’m no stranger to IKEA Hacking, but it has been a while since I did one so I was feeling up to the challenge. Luckily it didn’t take long before I knew exactly what I wanted to do in order to make it come close to the couch of my dreams.

The KARLSTAD is pretty much an IKEA staple and I’m sure you’ve seen it in many homes. It has clean, modern lines and comes with an easily removable slip cover. Perfect for my hacking plan. The one I bought had a grey cover and my IKEA was sold out of the white slip cover, but luckily my best friend in Florida found one at her store and was able to send it to me. Since KARLSTADs have completely removable slip covers I knew I could dye it to be whatever color I wanted.

I picked up a few boxes of Rit dye in Petal Pink. I filled my bathtub with boiling water and dye and soaked the slip cover until it was saturated. Then I promptly had a minor freak out because it didn’t turn out the rosey/peachy/blush pink color that I wanted and that appeared on the box.

I took a deep breath, refusing to be defeated, and rushed to the fabric store to grab some Rit Color Remover, a magical powder that gently removes all of your regrets and gives you a clean start. If only I could bathe myself in it. Just kidding…!

After a quick soak the slip cover was back to white. I knew at this point I was going to have to custom mix my own shade of pink so I threw the covers in the wash and went back to the fabric store for the 5th time to pick up more dye.

I can’t tell you the exact ratios of these colors that I used for my shade because I was constantly adjusting and testing the color. I want to say it was something like 4 parts pink, 1/2 part yellow, 1/8 part tan, but I’m not 100% sure so don’t come back yelling at me if yours turns out gross. I also diluted it a lot more than the first time so the color would be more pastel.

My husband and I worked nervously and quickly, scalding our hands and sweating over the boiling dye bath in our typical Melo-dramatic style, but it was worth it. It worked out perfectly!

Dying the slip cover was only the first step. I wanted new legs and pretty tufting, and dammit that’s what I would get. These steps were actually much easier and less annoying than the dye part.

Then I installed a top plate and attached the legs to the corners of the sofa.

I wanted to have legs in the center of the sofa, too. Partly for more support, but mostly because I like the look of it.

For this I just drilled a hole and inserted the leg directly into the wood.

That would have looked great on it’s own but I wanted tufting. I had spare fabric from an extra piece of slip cover that I found in the clearance bin at IKEA. I used this for my color test strips and then dyed a piece with the plan of covering buttons for tufting.

I used 7/8″ button cover kit and thread to make my tufting buttons, much like I did in this past IKEA hack.

Then I attached the buttons to upholstery string and used a long upholstery needle to feed the string through the cushion. I pulled the string tight and used these decorative buttons to anchor the string on the back of cushion. I didn’t want to go through the back of the cushion cover, and a knot would have just pulled back through the cushion insert, so I used the decorative buttons to hold my tufting in place. Am I making any sense at this point? Hopefully these visuals help.

And voila!

The decorative pillows are also from IKEA.I love the way the warm pink looks with the white and gold legs.I’m so excited to finally have a dreamy pink couch! And for less than $300!

Like this:

If you would have told me that finding a bed skirt would be the most difficult part of my bedroom makeover I wouldn’t have believed you. I thought I would just be able to pick up your run of the mill white skirt at any home goods store and be done with it. Nope. Of course not. Story of my life.

I had to exchange 3 bed skirts before deciding I was better off making one on my own. Either they were too short, too long, too sheer, or the wrong color. Who knew?! Luckily making your own custom bed skirt isn’t as hard as it may seem.

The first thing you need to do is figure out how long your skirt needs to be. Measure the distance from the top of your box spring to the floor. Then add 3-4 inches for seam and stapling allowance.Mine was at 16 inches, so I cut 20 inch long strips of fabric. The fabric is 58 inches wide, so I needed 3 of these strips in order to cover 3 sides of my box spring.Next you need to make the hem. Fold over the long edge at 5/8″ and press.

Then fold the raw edge under itself and press again. This creates a nice clean hem. Stitch at 3/8″. If you don’t have a sewing machine you can use iron-on hem tape.

Once that is done, stitch the strips together at the ends to create one long strip. Then staple the raw edge directly to the box spring, making sure the hem just barely touches the ground. If you don’t have a staple gun you can use flat head tacks.

Continue all around the box spring. The mattress should cover the staples and it’ll look like a normal bed skirt!

Now that I’m redecorating my apartment I have to find new furniture that not only fits my space but also fits my budget. Since I tend to redecorate a lot I don’t usually like to spend too much money on pieces that I know I may change out in a year or two, but sofas tend to be expensive. Up until now I’d been using a KARLSTAD loveseat from IKEA (now discontinued) as my main seating area.

At first it was meant to be a place holder until I found something else, but after I changed the legs and accessorized it a bit, it fit in perfectly and served its purpose without any problems.

I’m rearranging my furniture placement and plan to put a sofa against a larger wall in the room. The KARLSTAD loveseat looked tiny and awkward against the new wall so I figured it’s time to upgrade and get a new sofa.

I’m all about mid-century styles, and luckily I’ve found some good sources that have several great options. Here are some of my current favorites. All under $2,000.

Joybird– Joybird obviously has a love for design from the 50s and 60s. They have a large selection of sofas from straight and modern, to tufted traditional, to the wacky lines of the atomic era. Not only do they have a large selection of styles, but the selection of fabrics they’re available in is incomparable. They send you FREE swatches at the click of a button, and in my opinion their upholstery options are the most authentically vintage available.

Bryght– Bryght is a new on my radar but I like what I see. They provide high-end style at a decent price. Although they don’t have a large selection of bright, colorful fabric options, they do have velvet options which is nice.

Wayfair– Wayfair doesn’t exclusively offer mid-century inspired styles like the sources mentioned above, but they do have a great selection of passable high-end designer styles and colors at deeply discounted prices.

West Elm– West Elm has a couple of styles with a vintage vibe I like. The first has the modern, shelter frame, and the second has boomerang shaped legs that can give off an atomic vibe in the right color.

IKEA– Good old IKEA! Like I mentioned above, I’m upgrading from a KARLSTAD loveseat. I’m no stranger to an IKEA Hack and I’m confident that with a little effort and changes I could save a lot of money and turn this option into something more stylish. At only $400 it’s very tempting. Even as something temporary until I find a true vintage option.

Thrift Stores/Flea Markets/Craigslist- Another option is finding a second-hand, true vintage piece. I live in an area where vintage is a hot commodity and the good deals get swooped up pretty quickly. Often times between the cost of the couch and the cost to reupholster, it ends up way out of my budget anyway. I’m always lookout for an insane deal though!

I always decorate my bar for the holidays and one of the easiest things to do is switch out my framed prints. This year I came up with this adorably cheeky, retro-themed“Get Lit” sign and wanted to share it with you guys!

Disclaimer: For personal use only. Do not replicate for resale. The Christmas tree graphic was taken from a late 1960s government pamphlet and had no copyright listed. Any copyright infringement is not intended.